Social historian of alehouses

Hi, I’m Dr. Amy Burnett.

If you already know you want to contact me, my address is ajbslondon@gmail.com. If you want to find out more about what I do, read on.

I completed my PhD about women’s work in English alehouses (1550-1700) in 2024. It’s called “His wyfe the chiefe doer of it”: women who sold ale in south west England, 1550-1700, and you can read it for free here.

On the off chance you don’t have time to read all 300 pages of it, that link has a good overview of what to expect.

My research interests revolve around everyday life in early modern (1550-1700) England, especially:

• Non-elite women
• Working identity
• Neighbourliness
• Literacy
• Drinking houses (including alehouses and inns, but also taverns)

By day, I am a Policy Adviser at Historic England; but I also still do academic work outside of my 9-5 hours. If you’re in need of a speaker, a researcher, or a book reviewer, please get in touch. My email address is at the bottom of this page.

Current projects

I am currently working on a journal article about broadside ballads (popular folk music), and how they portrayed women who worked in the ale trade in early modern England. When it’s published, I will link it on here.

Previous publications

My doctoral thesis: “His wyfe the chiefe doer of it”: women who sold ale in south west England, 1550-1700. It sits in the central government library and is currently shortlisted for the University of Bristol’s annual prize for excellence in a doctoral dissertation, which hopefully means it’s got something interesting to say! You can read it, free, here. If you only want to find a certain part, or if you’re wondering if I cover a certain topic, please just email me. My email address is below.

My MA thesis was awarded silver for best UK dissertation (the Rees Davies Prize) at the Royal Historical Society’s awards in 2020. It looked at petitions in early modern Worcestershire (specifically group petitions), and suggested that by signing someone else’s petition, a person could hope for various social benefits.

I then turned it into an article, which was published in Cultural and Social History. You can read it, free, here.

Previous talks

I have extensive experience of presenting papers at academic conferences, including the Renaissance Society of America. I have also sat on roundtables, panel discussions and led training events.

I regularly work with the University of Bristol to coach postgraduate students on their dissertations. I have also given plenty of careers talks, and am especially interested in providing mentorship to students who face barriers in entering the workplace.

More recently, I have started doing public talks about my own research, and that of others. On International Women’s Day, for instance, I ran an interactive session at a woman-owned brewery (Good Chemistry, Bristol) on the history of women as ale sellers. I have also interviewed beer historian, Dr. Christina Wade, as part of her book tour promoting Filthy Queens: A History of Beer in Ireland.

Get in touch

Hopefully that’s given you a flavour of what I might be able to help with. To re-cap:

• Speaking (about my own research, or research practice)
• Hosting training events (about research practice, post-university careers, and related topics)
• Research (particularly the social history of early modern England)
• Book reviews
• Palaeography (transcribing 17th century handwriting)

If any of this sounds up your street, please get in touch. I’d love to work with you.

ajbslondon@gmail.com